


stay gold

by kouje



Series: blueberry eyes [2]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - K-pop, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bisexual Sokka (Avatar), Gay Zuko (Avatar), Idiots in Love, Jet (Avatar) Is An Asshole, Lu Ten (Avatar) Lives, Ozai (Avatar) Being a Terrible Parent, Zhao (Avatar) Is An Asshole, Zuko (Avatar) Gets a Hug, dog dad sokka, kpop idol zuko, twitch streamer sokka
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-09
Updated: 2020-12-15
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:42:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,729
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27982497
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kouje/pseuds/kouje
Summary: one-shots from blueberry eyes!
Relationships: Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Series: blueberry eyes [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2049468
Comments: 162
Kudos: 318





	1. Chapter 1

“Nephew!” Iroh greeted, waving him over to a table at one of his Jasmine Dragon tea shops. “I am glad to see you. It’s been too long.”

“It’s been two weeks, Uncle,” Zuko said, but returned his hug anyway, smiling into his shoulder. “How are you?”

“Oh, I cannot complain,” Iroh said, waving his hand before pouring them both a dainty cup of tea. “I have been busy.”

“Yeah?”

“Yes.” Iroh gave him a peculiar look and Zuko felt himself going tense, eyes narrowing in suspicion. “I have decided to take on another project.”

“Another project. Another tea shop?” Zuko _knew_ that couldn’t be the answer. Iroh wouldn’t ask to talk with him for something like that.

“Another group.” Iroh’s face was serious, carefully watching his reaction. “Not a replacement, of course, you understand. But—” his eyes caught on something over Zuko’s shoulder and he huffed a laugh, half reproachful and fully unsurprised.

“Hello, brother,” Azula said, pulling up a chair. “Long time, no see.”

Zuko was silent for a few long, long moments, and neither Azula nor Iroh interrupted him as he tried to process what was happening. Not only was Azula _there—_

“You’re leaving ZhaoWorks?”

“We _left_ ZhaoWorks,” Azula laughed shortly, stealing a tea cake from Zuko’s plate. “Our contract ended, and there’s no use staying with a failing company. Not when we’re at our prime. I came to Uncle—”

“ _You_ did? Not—”

“I was as surprised as you, nephew,” Iroh nodded, folding his hands over his belly. “It was a very pleasant surprise, but a surprise nonetheless.”

“But Father—”

“Father is of no concern.” Azula dismissed the thought with a wave of her hand. “Mai, Ty Lee, and I have made our decision. It’s not as if we need Father’s support anymore.”

Zuko couldn’t even fathom what it had cost her to come to that decision. Azula had always been Ozai’s _prize_ , Zuko’s polar opposite, a glowing success emphasizing Zuko’s shadow of failure, a child born lucky pitted against a child lucky to be born. “Why?”

Azula glanced at him, and it was only from years of _knowing_ her that Zuko could read the pain and turmoil that she must have felt, remnants still evident in her eyes. “It was time. It was time quite a while ago, but—” she shrugged and took a dainty sip of tea, etiquette always evident. “We saw a window and leapt from it. Aren’t you happy to see your dear sister again, Zuzu? What’s with your face?”

Zuko stared at her, still in disbelief. “I am happy to see you, Azula,” he said quietly, and handed her her favorite tea sandwich. It was her favorite as a child, at least. Judging by the pleased quirk of her lips, he believed it still was.

“Uncle tells me he has enjoyed managing Soolong.”

Iroh laughed, pleasant and fond. “I think you’ll find they manage themselves more than I do. They are business savvy and they know the industry much more than this old man.”

“Good,” Azula smirked. “I don’t appreciate being managed like Zhao attempted to do. I look forward to taking over.”

Zuko hadn’t stopped watching her, his memory-ridden subconscious expecting an attack at any moment. His hopeful conscience, however, was beginning to outweigh it. “You really left?”

Azula huffed a laugh. “It would be a silly thing to lie about, Zuko. Of course we did.”

Zuko was quiet for another long moment before nodding. “You should come over for dinner sometime. I’d like you to meet Sokka. He’s—”

“Yes, yes, your live-in boy toy, I know.” She smirked when Zuko’s eye twitched. “I know who he is, Zuko. And, as much as it pains me to admit, I would like to meet him too.”

Zuko nodded again and poured her more tea, ignoring the pleased look on Iroh’s face. “How have you been?”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ✩ where my anti jet gang at

Zuko was in the hospital.

Zuko was in the hospital, unconscious, hurt, _burned_ , and it was all Jet’s fault.

And Jet had the fucking gall to be in the living room of their Tokyo dorm when Lu Ten came home to pack a bag of Zuko’s things, hoping to bring some sort of comfort to him when he woke up. Familiarity was supposed to help people, right? It was supposed to make people remember and it was supposed to make people _wake up_ which Zuko _had to_ because he was just a child, not even eighteen, just starting to breathe on his own. The doctors were “pretty sure” he would wake up soon. “Pretty sure” was not enough for any of them.

Lu Ten, Toklo and Tomkin had all been at the hospital for twenty hours; they had gone as soon as Lu Ten, as Zuko’s emergency contact, got the call. The first thing he did was pile the boys into a taxi and bribed the driver to break the speed limit; the second thing was to call Iroh from the hospital bathroom, begging him to come. Iroh landed three hours later and had been with them ever since. They waited through the emergency surgery (and the doctors were “pretty sure” they had saved his left eye. In this case, they could take “pretty sure” for what it was), and sat at his bedside when they were allowed to go to his room.

He wasn’t sure anyone had asked the hospital staff to sign NDAs. He wasn’t sure he cared.

Lu Ten heard the low murmuring of the TV before he even unlocked the door. Jet glanced up at him when he entered, remote in hand, not bothering to say hello. Not bothering to say sorry. Not bothering to say anything.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” Lu Ten bit out, frozen in the doorway, appalled that he was seeing Jet’s fucking _face_.

Jet snorted and changed the channel lazily. “I live here. What’s got you fucked up?”

“I think you know, Jet. Get out.”

“Get out?” Jet laughed. “Why would I do that?”

“Because you put my fucking cousin in intensive care and you’re asking me why you should get out?”

That caught Jet’s attention. “What?”

“You fucking heard me, Jet.” Lu Ten felt his jaw shake. If Jet pressed him, he really would kill him. He’d at least come close to it.

“Yeah,” Jet shrugged. “What are you talking about, though? I didn’t touch him.”

“Dad found out what you did, what you fucking sent to Zhao, what you sent to Zuko’s _father_. Why do you think he’s in the hospital?’” he mocked, taking a step towards him and being rewarded by Jet jumping up and taking a step back. Lu Ten laughed derisively, pushing past him to go to their rooms. “You don’t deserve to know anything except that you did this to him. You hurt him. And if you’re still here when I come back, I _will_ kill you.”

Jet swallowed and nodded, but it wasn’t enough. Lu Ten looked at him for a moment, considering his options, before decking him, feeling his nose crunch under his fist with the devastating blow. He smirked down at Jet as he struggled to sit up after hitting the coffee table on his way down.

Lu Ten shook out his hand, sated by the ache in his knuckles. “If I see you again, I’ll kill you.”

He heard the front door close moments after going to Zuko’s room. It seemed to hit him all at once in the newfound solitude—Lu Ten sank down onto Zuko’s bed, the weight of the situation pressing him down. With a shaky breath, he dug out Zuko’s black cat plush from its hiding spot under the pillow. He had gotten it for Zuko _years_ ago, half as a joke because Zuko was as tetchy as a cat, half because he knew Zuko hadn’t been given anything like it since his mother had passed.

Lu Ten closed his eyes, but it did nothing to stop the tears. Zuko’s life was changed forever and none of them knew exactly how, and none of them knew exactly how he would take it. The doctors’ “pretty sure” left room for Zuko to not take it at all. He had been hurt really close to his brain. There was potential for things to go south incredibly quickly. It would leave a mark that went deeper than Zuko’s skin, and Lu Ten worried about how his cousin—his sweet, shy, sensitive, _stupid_ cousin—would feel those scars in the future. He hoped he _had_ a future.

He looked around Zuko’s room; it was the only place that had ever been really Zuko’s, with soft lights strung on the ceiling and polaroids of them on the wall, but, with Jet constantly coming and going, had it ever really been his? Had it ever really been safe? He packed Zuko’s bag with a few changes of clothes and his floral shampoo and his black cat. He tore all of the photos of Jet off the wall while he was at it, casually shredding them and throwing them out the window. He was disappointed to find that it was not cathartic. He grabbed a few things from Tomkin and Toklo’s rooms as well, knowing that none of them would be willing to leave Zuko’s side any time soon.

He spent the cab ride back to the hospital finding an apartment close to his dad’s home in Seoul, putting in a quick application as soon as he found something that could work, unwilling to stay in this ruined city for any longer than they had to. When Zuko was stable, they would leave, and they would not turn back. Jet would stay in Tokyo—he could have the whole city for all that Lu Ten cared. They would go to Seoul—to keep Zuko safe from Jet, from Zhao, from Ozai, from anything that could do him any harm. He didn’t need to consult the boys to know they’d agree and that they’d follow with no hesitation.

Iroh saw his busted knuckles as soon as Lu Ten got back to the hospital; none of them could smile now, but Lu Ten saw his approval. He sat by Iroh’s side and leaned against him heavily, a full head taller than his father but feeling so much smaller at that moment. Iroh put his arm around his shoulders and Lu Ten allowed himself to relax as much as he could, for just a brief moment.

Toklo took charge of telling Zhao to fuck off, hanging up before there could be any argument. Tomkin took charge of learning about burn care from one of Zuko’s nurses. Iroh took charge of being there for them in a way that no one had been for a long time; support always fell on themselves, and often Lu Ten was the one who willingly shouldered it for them all. Being able to sit in silence for once, watching the rise and fall of Zuko’s chest, was a luxury Lu Ten was grateful he could afford.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ✩ as always tomkin belongs to [hella1975](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hella1975/pseuds/hella1975), toklo belongs to [muffinlance](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MuffinLance/pseuds/MuffinLance), edits belong to [nettlewine](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nettlewine/pseuds/nettlewine)


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> let lee say fuck gang

Iroh’s office was tucked into the first Jasmine Dragon tea shop he opened; a beautiful, traditional, cozy space that he had crafted himself. He had ostensibly designed his office, as well, as a space to make himself and employees feel comfortable, but it was designed around the comfiest couch Iroh had ever sat on, and the warmly professional space was wonderful for warmly professional naps.

He had just woken up from one such nap with a satisfied yawn and a satisfying stretch when his door was thrown open unceremoniously. Iroh blinked at the young boy in the doorframe. Sixteen and gangly, Lee looked frantic but serious, a determined tilt to his brow and a stubborn slant to his lips.

“Lee!” Iroh said, clapping his hands once, smiling brightly. “What a pleasant surprise. Please, have a seat, I’ll fetch some tea for us—”

“This isn’t a matter for tea,” Lee said, the Russian accent evident in his voice. “If anything, it’s a matter for _whiskey_. This is business.”

Iroh laughed. “You have a few years before I can allow that, my boy. Business, you said?”

Lee nodded and sat in front of the desk, leaning forward intently. “I need to discuss my contract.”

Iroh felt a worried pang in his chest. Soolong had adopted Lee enthusiastically after hearing his work, and if he was trying to part from them—well, they would allow it, of course, but the other members’ disappointment would hurt Iroh as much as Lee’s departure would hurt them. He waved his hand for Lee to continue.

“My contract—” He took a deep breath. “I want to add a clause.”

Iroh’s shoulders relaxed a little. He could deal with an addition much easier than a break. “I will hear it, but I cannot promise to agree.”

Lee nodded and straightened up, trying to make himself look non-negotiable. “I want to say fuck.”

After a long beat of silence, Iroh blinked. “You want to…?”

“I want to say fuck,” Lee repeated, lifting his chin like he was prepared to fight. “I want it in my contract that I’m allowed to say it.”

“I—well, my boy, your contract says nothing about language, if I am not mistaken.” Iroh opened the messy file cabinet and found it in the stack of loose papers.

“No, but Lu Ten keeps telling me to stop saying fuck but I think that’s _unfair_ and I should be able to say fuck if I want to!”

Iroh searched for something to say. “Hm. Well. You are, to be a fair, a public figure now, my boy. It isn’t—a _great_ example to set for children.”

“I won’t yell it at kids!” Lee whined. “But—also, don’t put _that_ in my contract, I just want permission and I promise I won’t do that maybe.”

“My son wants you to stop?” Iroh nodded, calculating. It was as good a joke as any. He penned in the clause carefully, dating and initialing it and handing it to Lee to do the same. Lee looked gleeful as he initialed and handed it back, allowing Iroh to make a photocopy.

“Say hello to Lu Ten for me.” 

He smiled and handed him his copy.

“You’re the fucking _best_ , Uncle Iroh!” Lee beamed and ran out, no doubt scaring the servers as he went.

Iroh smiled, pleased at the title. It had been a lovely seven-minute meeting, he thought as he stood and stretched again, settling on the couch once more. It was time for a well-deserved break.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ✩ yall im PURPOSELESS i miss writing blueberry eyes i have like 6 extra hours in my day and i spend them all watching compilations of hobi and suga being cute. hmu with any one shot suggestions, blueberry eyes or otherwise, as i? am dying.  
> ✩ also lol ive been wanting to write this forever happy monday

Zuko stood silently in the doorway of Tomkin and Toklo’s shared room in the Soolong dorms, staring at nothing in the distance as Tomkin stared at him. The only sound in the room was the crunch of Tomkin slowly eating cereal. At any other time, Zuko might have scolded him for eating in bed, but he had more important things on his mind. More _distressing_ things on his mind.

After a few moments of Zuko’s odd-in-general but not-odd-for-him behavior, Tomkin cleared his throat. Zuko jumped and looked at him with wide eyes, as though he had forgotten he was there. Tomkin raised his eyebrows. “Hey, bud. Are you, like—good?”

Zuko nodded jerkily, but he scratched his nose in the tell-tale way that meant that he was lying.

“Wanna sit down?” Tomkin asked, and Zuko shook his head, just as jerkily as his nod had been. “Okay, uh. Wanna stay standing up?” Zuko gave a jerky nod and Tomkin huffed a little laugh. “Close the door, tell me what’s going on.”

Zuko obeyed almost without thinking and leaned against the closed door, not meeting Tomkin’s eyes. “Nothing’s going on.”

“ _Zuko_.”

“Something—it’s not important. Sorry—” 

Tomkin clicked his tongue and hurried to sit up, grabbing Zuko’s wrist before he could leave. “Stop, sit down. If you’re not gonna talk, at least hang out with me. Toklo’s gone for the rest of the day and you know I hate being alone.”

That, at least, convinced Zuko to stay, and he sat timidly on the edge of Tomkin’s single bed. “It’s nothing. Sorry—”

Tomkin rolled his eyes and leaned against the wall, stretching his legs out enough to nudge Zuko with his foot just because he knew Zuko hated it. Zuko grimaced and grabbed his ankle to stop him, keeping him in his grip. “Are you doing anything today? I feel like a puppy without enrichment.”

“Stop watching animal documentaries.” Zuko couldn’t help but smile a little. “It just makes you sad we can’t get one.”

“I’m _always_ sad we can’t get one.” Tomkin pouted dramatically. “And it wasn’t a _documentary_ , I’m not a nerd. It was a YouTube compilation of puppies falling over, it was great.”

“Oh, my bad. I watch documentaries all the time—”

“Case in point, nerd.”

Zuko squeezed his ankle before letting go, pushing himself up and sitting crosslegged on the bed. “You’re the worst. I wasn’t really—planning on doing anything. It’s kind of nice when everyone’s out.”

“ _Oh_ , if you want me to _leave_ —”

“No!” Zuko half-yelled, finally meeting his eyes. “Don’t leave.”

“Okay.” Tomkin settled back intentionally. “Not leaving. See?”

Zuko nodded and swallowed, looking away again. “Okay. Thanks.”

“Uh-huh.” Tomkin squinted at him, even more suspicious than before. “Are you sure you don’t want studio time or something? We could choreograph for fun.”

Zuko shrugged and messed with the hem of his t-shirt. “I can barely do the choreography we do for _work_ , Tom, I don’t know.”

“God, I don’t know why you think that, Zuko. You’re so much better than, like, _all_ of us. Minus maybe Jet.” There was no mistaking the way Zuko flinched at Jet’s name and Tomkin sighed. He had a _feeling_ it was about Jet. It seemed like it always was. “What did he say?”

“Nothing,” Zuko said, too quick. “I mean—nothing. He really—didn’t. I think. I don’t know.”

“Talk to me, Zuko,” Tomkin said, quiet and encouraging.

“He didn’t say anything. It’s just—”

“Just?” Tomkin prompted after a moment of silence.

There was another moment of silence, and Tomkin generously allowed it. He had known Zuko for more than a year, now, and knew he needed _time_ and _patience_ ; he was the only person Tomkin could stand to be patient _with_. “I don’t want Jet to be my first kiss.”

Out of all things, Tomkin hadn’t expected _that_ , but he pressed through his shock to answer before Zuko started to panic. “What?”

Quickly going red, Zuko swallowed. “I don’t—I don’t know, sorry—”

“Hey, no, stop,” Tomkin sat forward and nudged his knee just for some sort of contact. “I thought you already—had, uh. Been. Doing that.”

Zuko shrugged and Tomkin hated how worried he looked. “We’ve been doing—things, just not— _that_.”

“Isn’t _that_ , like, the whole basis of doing things?”

“I don’t know. I guess, maybe? But we don’t—do that. He doesn’t really want to, so. But—I want—or, I mean, I _don’t_ want—”

“And you came to me.” It was more a question than a statement, and Tomkin nudged his knee again after Zuko closed his eyes and nodded. “You don’t want Jet to be your first kiss. But you want—”

Zuko nodded quickly. “Sorry. I’ll go—”

“Shut up,” Tomkin said, quiet and fond. “Okay.”

That caught Zuko off guard and he opened his eyes, looking over at him. “What?”

“Okay.” Tomkin shrugged. “You wanna?”

Zuko’s cheeks had to be _burning_. “I—you don’t have to, Tomkin, I’m being stupid.”

“Nah.” Tomkin grinned, lopsided and what he _hoped_ was charming. “You’d be my first, too, bud, so I dunno if I’ll be _good_ , but I’m good at everything else in the world, so—”

Zuko swallowed. “Do you like boys?”

Tomkin blinked and tilted his head a little. “I dunno. I’ve never thought about boys, really, but—maybe. I like you. I mean—” he laughed and shoved his shoulder. “Not _like like_ but _like_ , like, you’re my best friend and I have eyes, you know?” Tomkin wasn’t sure he was imagining the slight disappointment in Zuko’s eyes, but he pushed the thought to the side.

“You don’t—have to. I know I’m being stupid.”

“Nah, you’re not,” Tomkin said with a gentle smile. “Even if I haven’t done it before, I bet I’m _way_ better than Jet.”

Zuko didn’t even try to argue. “Yeah. Maybe.”

“So?”

“So?” Zuko looked at him, brows furrowed. He really _was_ pretty. Definitely the prettiest boy Tomkin had ever seen in real life. Possibly the prettiest boy Tomkin had ever seen in general.

“So,” he said slowly, gesturing. “Kiss me.”

Zuko’s jaw dropped momentarily. “What? Just like that? I can’t—just— _fuck_ , Tomkin, I don’t know, you don’t have to, I’m being—”

With a roll of his eyes, Tomkin sat up and interrupted him, pressing his lips against Zuko’s in what he hoped was soft enough for their first. Considering neither he nor Zuko had any experience, he guessed that they wouldn’t know the difference anyways. Zuko froze, but Tomkin was well-versed enough in Zuko’s body language to know that he could and should keep going. He couldn’t help but grin against his lips when Zuko started kissing _back_ , feeling a rush of success and a rush of excitement all at once.

“There,” Tomkin said when he pulled back, smiling and running a hand through Zuko’s smooth hair. “That was pretty good, right?”

Zuko nodded. His eyes looked glazed over, shocked and pleased, and Tomkin couldn’t help but kiss him again. “Oh.”

Tomkin laughed. “Nice. I think it was good. Don’t you?”

Zuko nodded slowly. “Uh-huh.”

“Good.” Tomkin grinned and pulled him into a hug, collapsing onto the bed with him in his arms. “That was a good first. No one else I’d rather kiss for funsies.”

“For funsies,” Zuko said quietly, hesitating for only a moment before snuggling close.

“Hell yeah.” Tomkin smiled and pressed a kiss to the crown of his head. “Wanna watch puppy videos with me?”

“Yeah,” Zuko said, quiet and relieved. “Thanks, Tomkin.”

“Anytime, Z. I mean it. That was fun. And I’m more fun than Jet at all times always.”

“You are,” Zuko agreed, resting his head on Tomkin’s chest and watching him search on his phone, adding, quietly, “Love you.”

Tomkin grinned and snuggled him up, happy and warm. “Love you, too, stupid.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ✩ as always tomkin belongs to [hella1975](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hella1975/pseuds/hella1975), toklo belongs to [muffinlance](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MuffinLance/pseuds/MuffinLance), appropriate comma usage belongs to [nettlewine](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nettlewine/pseuds/nettlewine)  
> ✩ me smashing tomkin and zuko's amiibos together: now kiss :-)  
> ✩ i had this in mind like throughout blueb but i didnt put it in text bc i felt weird making someone elses oc k*ss but like your honor (hella) i make them k*ss respectfully


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